Over the past month I have written several posts about Centering Prayer and contemplation, all in response to an email I received from an Episcopal priest with some thought-provoking questions about the theory and practice of contemplative spirituality. You can read the original email here. Here are the posts I’ve…… Read more at Patheos
This is the third of a series of blog posts in response to a lengthy email I received a few weeks ago from an Episcopal priest who is a veteran centering prayer practitioner. You can read the email in its entirety here, and then the first post and the second…… Read more at Patheos
Last week on this blog I posted a detailed email I received from a reader which included several wonderful questions. You can read the full email here. I’m going to take on the questions from that email one at a time. This week, we’re considering “is centering prayer something old…… Read more at Patheos
I received the following email from a reader. I’m editing it slightly for the purpose of clarity, but otherwise posting it in its entirety. My question hovers around how centering prayer and Cynthia Bourgeault’s expression of it sits in tension with Orthodox traditions of the Jesus Prayer. Bourgeault figures centering…… Read more at Patheos
A reader of this blog wrote to ask me this question: How does Centering Prayer differ from Christian Meditation as taught by John Main? In Centering Prayer you allow the prayer word to “fall away” on it’s own. And though, in Christian Meditation, you are meant to keep repeating the…… Read more at Patheos
One night in a dream I found myself near the Ballston Metro station in Arlington, Virginia (I lived close by there at the time). But as is so often in dreamscapes, the neighborhood in my dreams was radically different than in real life. For one thing, there was a large…… Read more at Patheos
I know, I know — a blog post about new years’ resolutions several weeks after the year has begun?!?! What kind of craziness is that? Sure — the first week of January is our culturally-sanctioned time for making promises to make the new year “better” — whether that means losing…… Read more at Patheos
Since mysticism cannot be put into words, and contemplation likewise involves a wordless gaze of love, silence is the essential nutrient for anyone seeking to walk the path of mystical or contemplative prayer.
A reader named Andrew wrote to me and asked this question: What do you think the key books are in the Christian tradition on spiritual transformation? How about a top ten? Another reason for asking is that church leaders might find the story interesting as the main goal, or one…… Read more at Patheos
A reader named Thomas wrote to me: Dear Sir; Blessings. Where can a person go to be a hermit. I am called to a life of solitude. But I don’t know where to go. Do you have any ideas? Dear Thomas, Thanks for writing. Feeling called to a life of…… Read more at Patheos
So you’ve been to a centering prayer workshop or two, and now you participate in a weekly centering prayer group. You are committed to praying silently twice a day — at least most days. You go on retreat at a monastery or retreat center once or twice a year, and…… Read more at Patheos
In response to my post Can Christians Use a (Non-Christian) Mantra?, a reader posted this comment on social media: As opposed to being an instrument of thought, when I use a mantra, which now being a Centering Prayer practitioner is rare, what it creates for me is a vibrational, harmonic integration…… Read more at Patheos